If they can't pay the $10 an hour without service charge, they need to raise prices and see if people come. If not, close down.

Anonymous wrote:Same happened to us, but it was the waitress who alerted us that the 20% service charge is not the tip. She was really sweet and I don’t think she was scamming us, rather the restaurant is keeping the 20%. Restaurant was Brasserie liberté in Georgetown

same restaurant

If the 20% fee is not on the menu or the website or disclosed verbally, I would refuse to pay it, then give a cash tip. I mean I really wouldn't have the guts to refuse, but it would be the proper course of action.

Same happened to us, but it was the waitress who alerted us that the 20% service charge is not the tip. She was really sweet and I don’t think she was scamming us, rather the restaurant is keeping the 20%. Restaurant was Brasserie liberté in Georgetown

I thought the higher wage law was to do away with tipping?

This happens in some places but not others.

We rarely go out to eat anymore. It's such a scam.

Name the restaurant so we know to avoid.

Because you wouldn’t have gone if you’d seen the real prices online before, but now you’re stuck with 20% higher prices than you thought.

that 20% is the tip

Anonymous wrote:The service charge is the tip. I would have not given more and I would not go back there.

+1. They should raise prices rather than stiff the waitpeople.

If there is a service charge to compensate staff… that’s a tip in my book.

The service charge is the tip. I would have not given more and I would not go back there.

It’s crazy. Don’t go out. We stopped going out.

3 of us went to dinner and had a wonderful sweet waitperson. When the bill came it wa a brought by the manager (?) and it had a 20% service fee added on. As my husband was putting his card out he said (to confirm) oh the tip is included already? And the man said no it’s not the tip this is the service fee because we had to raise prices to meet the new DC minimum wage. So then when the bill came there was a line for “additional tip”. We gave our waitperson the real tip in cash but
1. it felt like the restaurant is stealing wages and that a lot of people probably assume the tip is included in the bill and then the waitperson gets unintentionally stiffed,
and 2. Our dinner for 3 (with 2 glasses of wine) cost us almost 240, so we will not ever go back- the bill for the meal was
148 pretax
18 tax
30 (20% service fee)

Is this 20% service fee a real thing?
40 tip